Spirit of Hope
by Manos The Hands of Fate
Summary: AU Hermione begins to realize that she has fallen for Harry. But her parents have been murdered, and her twin brother has returned from Japan. And what does her brother's past have to do with Voldermort's new ally? HHr RLuna GOC pre HBP
1. Prologue: Graveyard

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I'm just borrowing her characters for a little while. Enjoy!  
  
**Prologue: Graveyard  
**  
It was a dark and stormy afternoon in London, and it was particularly gloomy on the grounds of Memorial Cemetery. Rain was beating down on the gravestones and the very few mourners that had braved the storm to visit their loved one. The rain also beat down on a lone figure that was walking up one of the graveyards many hills, headed to one plot in particular. The plot was one the top of the hill, and there was evidence that the graves had only been there a short time. The figure reached the fresh graves and stared at the gravestones, which read:  
  
**Marcus GrangerBeloved Husband and Father. Jane Granger Beloved Wife and Mother.**  
  
As the figure stood staring at the gravestones in front of him, a flash of lightning briefly illuminated the cemetery. The crack of thunder that resulted covered up another loud crack, which was the sign that Albus Dumbledore had arrived to pay his respects.  
  
Dumbledore had not expected to run into anybody at the Granger's graves, and was surprised to find the young man standing in front of their plot. The young stranger looked to be around the same age of the Granger's daughter, Hermione. He was tall, but the large dark wool duster coat that he was wearing hid his build. He had dark hair, not black, possibly brown but it was impossible to be sure in the poor light and soaking rain. His face seemed oddly familiar to Dumbledore, but he was sure he had never met the young man before. He cleared his throat to announce his presence to the young man, who acknowledged it by turning his head slightly and staring straight at him. Dumbledore looked into the young man's piercing blue eyes for a few seconds before speaking, "I am sorry to sneak up on you like that. Did you know the Grangers?"  
  
"Did you?" the young man said quickly in response, looking back to the graves. Dumbledore walked up to him and stood right next to him, facing the graves. Dumbledore sighed, and said "Not particularly well. I know their daughter, Hermione. I am the Headmaster of the school she attends. She is one of the top students there. I was also the one who had to break the news of her parents deaths to her."  
  
The young man looked at him for a minute, then said, "You must be Professor Dumbledore then, Hermione has mentioned you a couple of times in the few letters she sent me." He looked back at the gravestones, and then said, "My name is Lance Granger. I'm Hermione's twin brother." He looked back at Dumbledore, who had a shocked look on his face, and grinned slightly, "Hermione probably didn't tell you about me. When we were eight I went to live with my uncle who had recently moved to Japan and study martial arts. When we turned eleven and she got her Hogwarts letter, she immediately called me to see if I had gotten a letter too. I had, but mine was from the Hokkaido Magic Institute. I decided to remain in Japan and continue my training there as well as attend the institute. Hermione wasn't too happy with that, and we got into a huge row over the telephone and ended up not speaking to each other until my uncle died two years ago. She tried to talk me into coming home then, but I still refused and we only slightly patched up our differences and started sending letters every once in a while. That's how I learned about our parents death."  
  
Lance went back to staring at his parent's graves, while Dumbledore stood there in quiet thought. While the young man had been speaking, Dumbledore had been using Legilimency to verify that the story was true, which it was. He then pulled out his wand and cast a charm at Lance that caused him to glow blue for a few seconds. Lance just stood there, apparently not noticing the spell. After a few minutes, Dumbledore cleared his throat and spoke up, "I am assuming that you returned to England to pay your respects and repair your relationship with your sister." He paused, until Lance nodded his head, then he went on, "Well, your sister is in a safe place. I will take you to her, if you can give me an assurance that you will keep the secret of the location. Would you be willing to make a Wizards Oath to this?" Lance nodded, then slowly pulled his wand out of his pocket and held it over his heart. Dumbledore did the same, then asked him to repeat what after him, "I swear to not reveal what I am about to learn until this oath is lifted from me." As they both spoke the oath, golden dust flowed out of Lance's mouth. Then Dumbledore asked for his wand, which Lance handed over immediately.  
  
Satisfied that it was safe to take the young man to his sister, Dumbledore began to search his robes for something that he could turn into a Portkey. While he was doing this, Lance pulled two roses out of his coat and placed them on his mothers' grave. As he stood back up, he whispered "goodbye mum, dad." By the time he was finished with this, Dumbledore had finished turning his Put-Outer into a Portkey. He then whispered the location of the Order of the Phoenix's Headquarters to Lance as they both took hold of the Portkey. Then, with a sudden jerk at their navels, they were both whisked away, leaving the graveyard empty as the rain pounded down on the graves and the two roses.  
  
End of Prologue. Authors Note: Sorry this is so short, but I kinda needed to get this out fast cause I'm working on so many fics right now. The next chapter will be much longer. 


	2. Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the related names, spells, and powers. This takes place during Sixth year, and the summer before. OOTP spoilers.  
  
Authors note: Wow, five reviews in the first 48 hours of posting the first chapter. Never had that kinda reaction to one of my fics before. Thank you all.  
  
**Nissy Padfoot: **Don't worry, Lance isn't evil. But in the next few chapters you'll learn about what kind of person he is, and what he's capable of.  
  
**chibi moon baby: **Glad you find this fic so, as you said, riveting.  
  
To those I did not address her that reviewed I thank you for your reviews. Hopefully I will be able to update this story about once a week, but I'm not making any promises on that cause of my schedule. Oh, and ""= speech, '' = thoughts.  
  
Anyways, lets get on with chapter 1!  
  
**Chapter 1: Reunion**  
  
Dumbledore and Lance landed hard in a dark, nondescript room. Dumbledore waved his wand, and two lamps lit up the room. The room appeared to have been at one time a study or office, there were books and papers lying around a huge oak desk near one of the walls. With another wave of his wand, Dumbledore dried off both his and Lance's clothes. He then turned to Lance and said, "I'll ask you to wait in this room if you don't mind. I have to go talk to a few people, and then I'll bring your sister here." Lance nodded, and started to take off his coat as Dumbledore left the room, locking the door after he exited.  
  
The room that Dumbledore had left Lance in was the unused study of number 12 Grimmauld Place. In one of the many bedrooms of that house, Hermione Granger sat at a window, watching the storm. She had been depressed for a couple of weeks, ever since her parents had died. The summer had started out just like any other summer, almost. When she had arrived home from her fifth year at Hogwarts, she had been so worried about her best friend Harry. Harry had just lost his godfather, Sirius, and she was worried that spending the summer with the Dursley's would only make him feel worse. All of this was pushed to the back of her mind when she got home and her parents told her something that they had been keeping from her to surprise her.  
  
That surprise was asleep in a crib a few feet away from where Hermione was sitting. Christina Noelle Granger, Chrissie for short, her new baby sister. Hermione's mom hadn't found out that she was pregnant until after Hermione left for school, and had waited to tell her to keep from giving her another thing to worry about while she was preparing for and taking the O.W.L.s. She was now three months old. Hermione had been so excited to have a sister, and had asked her parents if she could take Chrissie with her to see the Weasleys. They had reluctantly agreed, and it ended up saving Hermione and Chrissie's lives. While Hermione was visiting with the Weasleys, the Death Eaters attacked her home and killed her parents. Dumbledore came and gave her the news, and offered her a place to stay at Grimmauld Place.  
  
That was two weeks ago, and the funeral had been later that week. After the third day of Hermione's stay, Dumbledore had personally gone to Privet Drive and brought Harry back with him. Harry and Hermione had spent the days since comforting each other and helping each other deal with their losses. Hermione was still depressed but Harry had helped her move on a little, and she had helped Harry do the same.  
  
One thing she did worry about was how her twin brother was holding up. She had sent him a letter informing him of their parent's deaths. But she wished that she could talk to him. True, they hadn't been very close since the fight when they were eleven but, he was her twin, she needed him. Lately she had found herself wondering about how Lance was dealing with all this. They had both lost their parents, they were now orphans. And Lance didn't even know about Chrissie, her mom had said that they were waiting to tell him when he came for a visit later in the summer. And she had been so distraught that she hadn't mentioned it in the letter she sent him.  
  
All these thoughts had been bubbling through her brain for days, and she would have continued to dwell on them that night if it weren't for the interruption of someone knocking on the door. She walked over and opened it, revealing Professor Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley. She invited them in and asked them what they wanted. Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, "We have a visitor who says he is your brother. I thought you might want to see him. I brought Molly here to watch over Chrissie." Hermione's eyes went wide when she heard this and she jumped to her feet. Dumbledore led her out of the room, and down the hall to the study where Lance was waiting.  
  
After Dumbledore had left the room, Lance took off his coat and set it down on a nearby chair and walked over to the room's only window. He stood there staring at the rain in deep thought, 'I should have come back sooner. I should have never let that fight that Hermione and I had cause such a rift between my family and me. I wish I had been there to save them or something.' He took his attention off of the storm outside, and pulled back the cuff of the right sleeve of his shirt, and stared at the tattoo on the underside of his wrist. The tattoo consisted of three symbols, they were the Japanese symbols for the words honor, loyalty, and family. Looking at them, Lance felt another twinge of guilt, 'Over the past few years I have been so consumed with my training, among other things, that I have neglected my family. I lost sight of what is important in life, and it took my parent's death to make me realize it. I'm such an idiot.' His thoughts continued this way until he heard the sound of the door being unlocked. He turned to the door just as it opened, revealing Dumbledore and his sister. He stared at her for a second not believing that she was really there, but then her ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "Hermione," he said, his voice chocked with emotion, "I missed you so much. I'm glad you're safe."  
  
Hermione hugged him back the second she realized that it was really him. Her twin brother was here, now, hugging the life out of her. Tears came to her eyes as she heard him say the he missed her, her mind began racing, 'I never should have argued with him about Hogwarts. That little fight drove us out of each other's lives. I can barely believe that this is my brother; he's grown up so much since then. But his face is the same as it ever was, and his eyes are still the same.' She smiled and whispered, "I missed you too. I'm sorry we ever fought. I'm glad you're back." The tears just took over then, and she buried her head into his should and cried. She cried tears of sorrow for their loss, and tears of joy for their reunion.  
  
End of chapter 1  
  
AN: Okay, I'm sorry that this chapter isn't much longer than the other, but I got really swamped with algebra homework (damn summer term) and have been really busy. I plan to get the third chapter out by next Friday, and it will be much longer.  
  
Next chapter: The Weasley's and Harry's reaction to Lance, and Lance's reaction to Chrissie. Also, a peek into Lance's past.  
  
Next Chapter: **Introductions and Nighttime Troubles **


	3. Introductions

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the related names, spells, and powers. This takes place during Sixth year, and the summer before. OOTP spoilers.

Authors note: I am almost overwhelmed by the response this story has gotten. I just hope that it continues after this chapter. See, starting with this chapter this story is going to become a cross over of sorts. It is going to have elements and eventually characters from a popular anime series (which I also don't own). However, I will explain these for people who have not seen this series (which for right now will not be named). This is the way I had always envisioned this fic, so I hope you guys enjoy it. And now chapter 2

""= Speech, ''= thoughts

**Chapter2: Introductions **

Dumbledore stood and watched the tearful reunion of the two siblings, a small smile forming on his face. 'Well, that pretty much removes any doubts I had about that young man's identity.' He thought as he cleared his throat to get their attention. The two released each other from the hug and turned to look at him. "Well miss Granger, I am glad that I was able to help reunite you with your brother. I know how worried you have been about him for the past few weeks. However, now that he is here, I must speak with him about both this place and a few other matters. Would you like to stay and help me explain the situation?" He asked, while conjuring two extra chairs and sitting down in one of them. Hermione nodded and sat down in the other chair Dumbledore had conjured, while Lance dragged the chair he had placed his coat on up closer to the other two and sat down. Dumbledore then asked, "Mister Granger, how much have you been told about your parent's death?"

Lance's eyes shifted down towards the floor as he began to speak, "Hermione told me that it was a group called the Death Eaters. She didn't go into too much detail; I think it was still too painful for her when she wrote me. After I learned that, I did a little research and found out about Voldermort." As Lance said the name, Dumbledore raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. Lance gave a hollow chuckle and continued, "You seem surprised that I can say his name. I don't fear names. And even if I did, a lot of my training helped me become able to stand up to my fears. After I learned about what's been going on here recently, I knew that I had to come home. Not just to pay my respects to my parents, but also to help Hermione. She and I are the last of our family."

Hermione reached over and put her hand on his arm. Her eyes were threatening to tear up as she said, "Lance there's something I have to tell you, something I left out of my letter on accident, something you should know." Lance looked her straight in the eye as she continued, "Back in early September of last year, mom found out that she was pregnant again. She was about a month along by then. In April she gave birth to a little girl named Christina Noelle, Chrissie for short. The didn't tell me about her until I got back from school, and they were waiting to tell you when you came to visit this summer like you promised them you would." Lance's eyes went wide in shock, but after a second his fist began to clench in anger. Hermione guessed that he had come to the conclusion that Chrissie had been murdered as well. She told him to calm down and when he had she continued, "Chrissie was with me when the house was attacked. I had brought her here so that my friends the Weasleys could meet her. I've been taking care of her since, with Mrs. Weasley's help of course. She's three months old now." Hermione trailed off, as Lance looked back down to the floor.

Lance sat there for a minute or so, letting his mind process what his sister had just told him. After a few seconds he whispered, "So there's three of us now. I now have two sisters to protect." He then looked up and met Dumbledore's gaze with his own piercing stare and said, "You said you wanted to talk to me about some things. What do you want to know?"

For the next hour Dumbledore explained the Second War and the Order of the Phoenix to Lance, though not going into too much detail, just telling him everything that Hermione already knew. He also mentioned the fact that due to the oath that he had taken, Lance would not be able to tell anyone anything that he had just been told unless they already knew. They also discussed the fact that Lance wanted to transfer into Hogwarts, which Dumbledore assured him would easily be taken care of. In fact Dumbledore had received his school file earlier that morning, because Lance had the foresight to request that his old headmaster send it before he left, but he hadn't read it yet. After they were done, Dumbledore asked Hermione to take Lance down to the kitchen since dinner was in a half hour. On the way out Lance handed Dumbledore his coat, explaining that his trunk had been shrunk and was in the right pocket, and asked him if he could put it in whatever room he was going to be sleeping in. Dumbledore agreed and offered to unshrink the trunk. Then Hermione began to show Lance the way to the kitchen.

The kitchen was not empty when they arrived; Mrs. Weasley was there along with Chrissie and Harry. When Hermione and Lance walked into the room, only Chrissie noticed them enter. She let out a squeal and reached towards Hermione, wanting to be picked up from the baby carrier she was in. The squeal caught Mrs. Weasley's attention, and she spotted the other Granger siblings. She smiled and said over the squeals and pointing at Lance, "Well Hermione, I think that some introductions are in order."

Hermione grinned and replied, "Of course. Lance, I would like you to meet my best friend's mom and surrogate mother to Chrissie Mrs. Weasley. And this is my best friend Harry. Harry, Mrs. Weasley, this is my twin brother Lance." As Lance said his hellos, Hermione walked over and picked up Chrissie, then carried her over to where her brother was standing, "And this is Chrissie, our little sister. Would like to hold her?" Lance nodded, and took Chrissie from Hermione, cradling her gently.

Mrs. Weasley smiled at the scene in front of her, while Hermione started fixing a bottle for Chrissie. After a few seconds of adjusting, Chrissie looked incredibly comfortable in her brother's arms. Lance also adjusted quickly, and after a few seconds no one would have ever been able to tell that he hadn't held a baby before. Mrs. Weasley walked up to him and greeted him saying, "Hello Lance. Your sister here as told us a fair amount about you over the past week. Would you like to sit?" Lance nodded, and sat down in the seat that Mrs. Weasley had gestured towards, still cradling Chrissie.

After shifting a little to get comfortable in the chair, Lance turned his gaze from his baby sister to Mrs. Weasley, saying; "Thank you for being there for Hermione, and for helping her take care of this little miracle. I just wish I could have been here to help." Mrs. Weasley grinned at this, and patted his shoulder.

After a few seconds, Mrs. Weasley spoke up, "It was the least I could do. Hermione is almost like another member of the family, and it's been too long since I took care of a little baby." She grinned again, and then added, "Besides, if you want to thank someone for being there for Hermione, you should be thanking Harry here."

Harry looked slightly uncomfortable at this, and said, "You don't need to thank me for that. She helped me as much as I helped her." Hermione blushed slightly at this as she walked up to the table carrying a bottle for Chrissie. As she took Chrissie from Lance to feed her, Lance stood up and walked to near the edge of the table, putting him almost exactly between Harry and Mrs. Weasley.

Lance cleared his throat and then said, "Still, no matter what your reasons for helping my sisters, you did help them. And for that I cannot thank you enough." He then bowed, very respectfully and said, "Arigatou." When he straightened up, he noticed that everybody in the room was looking at him very strangely. He reached back and started scratching his head, chuckling for a second before explaining, "Sorry bout that, I've been living in Japan so long I keep forgetting that not a lot of people here speak Japanese. Arigatou is Japanese for thank you."

Mrs. Weasley went back to cooking, while Hermione sat down next to Harry and continued to feed Chrissie. Lance stood across the table from them, and the three of them chatted a little. After a few minutes the door to the hall, which was behind where Lance was standing, flew open with a bang. Ginny stormed through looking quite irate, followed by Tonks who was laughing. Ginny was covered in green slime, obviously a result of one of Fred and George's pranks. She was mumbling something about payback when suddenly Tonks stumbled and fell, knocking Ginny down. Ginny closed her eyes braced herself for the landing, which never came.

After a few seconds, Ginny realized that she should of hit the floor, but she hadn't. She opened her eyes, and found that someone had caught her. She looked up and found herself staring into the most piercing, most stunning pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. She then felt herself being helped up, and ash she stood she got a full look at the young man who had caught her. He was tall, taller than Ron but not by much. He had a medium frame that was covered by a loose fitting button up shirt and blue jeans. His hair was brown, and reached halfway down his neck. His face looked vaguely familiar to Ginny, but she couldn't tell why. Ginny stood there for a few seconds, slightly stunned by the handsome young man who had helped her. She was shaken out of this when she realized that her mother had started fussing over her, asking if she was okay, and Tonks was apologizing for accidentally knocking her over. She sighed as she regained her composure, and said, "Its okay mum, Tonks, I'm fine. Just a little shaken up. Plus, I'm going to kill the twins for setting up that slime trap in my bathroom." She then looked back at the guy who had caught her, and said while blushing slightly, "Thanks for catching me. I'm Ginny." She blushed again as she realized how stupid that sounded.

Lance looked at Ginny and smiled, and then said, "It's nothing, I was just in the right place at the right time. I'm Lance by the way." Slowly Ginny's blush began to recede, and she went over to the table and sat down. Lance followed her and sat down across from Hermione, which happened to be the seat right next to Ginny which caused her to blush slightly again. Lance smirked and said, "Just how many people do you have left to introduce me to, little sis?"

Hermione glared at Lance for a sec, then said, "Don't pull that little sis stuff with me, you're only older than me by five minutes. Now lets see, I still have to introduce you to my other best friend Ron, Fred and George, Charlie, Remus, and Mr. Weasley. Oh, and Tonks and Ginny here, even though you already have met Ginny. Tonks, Ginny, this is my twin brother Lance. He just arrived from Japan today." Tonks waved at Lance, and Ginny said hello while turning a deep red. Tonks joined them at the table, and they sat there talking until dinner.

Pretty soon, everybody who was living at Grimmauld place was in the kitchen, and they had all been introduced to Lance and vice versa. He and Ron had hit it off almost immediately, and Ron had started to tell him about all of the trio's adventures through their years at Hogwarts. Lance sat back and listened to the story, looking almost totally relaxed. When Ron and Hermione began arguing over a part of the story, Lance began to get lost in his thoughts, 'Man, Hermione and her friends have been through a lot over the past few years. It almost makes me think that I had it easy while training with Genkai, and that was the hardest training I've ever been through. And Harry there seems to have gotten the worst of it all, but I sense that he has a good and noble heart, even after all of that. I am impressed." Lance's train of though was interrupted when Mrs. Weasley brought out a huge roast, and dinner began.

After dinner Lance excused himself and asked where he was supposed to sleep, explaining that he wasn't used to the time difference between Tokyo and London and traveling between the two had left him exhausted. Dumbledore asked Hermione to lead him to the room that Harry, Ron, shared. Hermione led Lance right to the room, and then before he could go into it she gave him a bone-crushing hug. "I'm so glad you're here, I missed you so much." she whispered. Lance grinned and hugged her back, saying "me too". After a minute or so, she let him go and they wished each other a good night. Lance then walked into the bedroom and found a bed with his coat lying across it and his trunk unshrunk sitting at the foot. He picked up the coat and tossed it onto his trunk. He then took off his shoes, pants and shirt, and climbed into bed in his boxers. He lay there for only a few seconds before he fell into a deep sleep.

End of Chapter

Authors note: Okay I'm sorry that this is a little over a week late. I tried to get it done by last Friday, but I had a big algebra test to get through. I'm also sorry that I wasn't able to include the "Nighttime Troubles" that I mentioned in the title I put for this chapter in my authors not for the last chapter. That part will be the first half of the next chapter. Also, a shinny new penny to anyone who can name the anime series I referenced in this chapter.

Next Chapter: Nighttime Troubles and Morning Surprises.


	4. Nighttime Troubles and Morning Suprises

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the related names, spells, and powers. I also don't own YuYu Hakusho, from which I am borrowing many powers and such. This takes place during Sixth year, and the summer before. OOTP spoilers.

Authors note: Congrats to fanjimmy for guessing what anime series I made a reference to. This is a Harry Potter YuYu Hakusho crossover fic, though for the next few chapters there won't be a lot of YuYu stuff. I hope this fact doesn't scare anyone away, because I am so appreciative of the reviewer response I've gotten so far.

**Chapter 3: Nighttime Troubles and Morning Surprises**

Within an hour of Lance's departure from dinner, the rest of the boys entered the room. They were all fairly tired and full and they were all ready for a good nights sleep. All of them except for Harry that is. Harry was even more tired than the others, but he knew that a good night's sleep didn't await him. Every night he had nightmares, nightmares of Voldermort and Dumbledore dueling and Sirius falling through the veil. Because of these nightmares he had not gotten a good nights sleep all summer, he would usually just toss and turn for a while before waking up drenched in sweat.

This night was no different from the others; at 1am Harry woke and sat up immediately, his heart pounding like crazy and his shirt and boxers covered in sweat. After taking a few minutes to calm down he got out of bed, opened his trunk and grabbed some clothes, and then walked out of the room and over to the bathroom. He took a shower to wash of all the sweat, and then he put on the clean clothes and headed downstairs. He went to the study and sat down on the couch, staring at the fire. This was his routine every night when his nightmares woke him up; he would come into the study and watch the fire while he tried to deal with the images his mind had churned up during the night.

A little while later Harry was pulled away from his thoughts by the sounds of footsteps in the hallway. He turned to face the doorway just in time to see Hermione walk into the room, whispering, "Harry, is that you? What are you doing up this late?" Harry motioned for her to sit next to him, but before he could answer her question, she spoke up again, "You had a nightmare, didn't you? That's why you're here."

Harry sighed and nodded, his gaze turning back to the fire. After a minute, he spoke, "I've been having nightmares ever since I got here. In my dreams, I keep seeing people I love get hurt. I keep seeing the whole ordeal at the Ministry. I keep seeing him die." Harry's voice broke, and he was using all his willpower to keep from breaking down and crying. After a few seconds of silence Hermione hugged him, and his walls cracked, and he began to cry into her shoulder.

"Its okay Harry, its okay let it all out." Hermione whispered as she tried to comfort him as best she could. She knew that Harry needed this release, and she was glad that she could be there for him. As she held him, she noticed that her heartbeat started to flutter slightly, like it had several times so far this summer. All the time that Harry and her had spent together to console each others loses had led her to realize something. She was falling in love with Harry. She didn't know if he felt the same way, but she knew that now was not the right time to find out. So instead she just sat there and held him, not caring how long it took. She would wait for him. She loved him.

Meanwhile, in the guys' room, someone else was having a nightmare. Lance had started mumbling and moving restlessly, and then suddenly he began to thrash around in his sleep as if he were fighting something. He finally woke up after a few seconds of this, and he started rubbing his right hand, only to jerk his other hand back as if it was on fire. His right hand was bright red, almost as if it had been burned. He touched it again with his left hand and let go quickly again, his right hand felt like it was on fire. 'Not this again.' He thought as he got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. He got there without running into anybody and opened the door, all without touching anything with his right hand. He shut and locked the door, and then he turned the cold water knob in the shower as far as it would go and stuck his right arm into the freezing spray. When the ice cold water hit his hand, it turned into steam, but after a few seconds the steam stopped forming and his hand returned to its normal color.

Lance pulled his arm out of the shower and wriggled his fingers, muttering "At least it didn't set the sheets on fire this time." He then walked quietly back to the bedroom, where he opened his trunk and pulled out a pair of pants and a tank top, which he quickly and quietly changed into. He then walked out of the room again, looking for a room to do his morning exercises in. He eventually found his way back to the study that he had arrived in, and was surprised to find his sister and Harry in there hugging each other as if their life's depended on it. Deciding that discretion was the better part of valor, he closed the door and continued his search, finding a suitable room three doors down. He began to run through his exercises as quietly as he could so he didn't wake anyone.

Hours passed and the sun eventually came up, and with it the inhabitants of 12 Grimmauld Place. Mrs. Weasley was up at the crack of dawn fixing breakfast for everyone. The smell of eggs and bacon roused Ginny, who threw on a bathrobe and followed it downstairs. Just as she was about to reach the staircase, she heard a muffled thud come from one of the empty rooms. She crept over to the door and opened it slightly to check it out and was stunned by what she saw.

Lance stood in the middle of the room, performing what she thought looked like a dance that seemed to involve a lot of kicking and punching. Ginny was mesmerized by both the way he moved and by his body as well. The tank top he was wearing was skin tight, showing off his lean but very muscular build that ripple slightly with strength every time he moved. His movements where extremely graceful, but also held a sense of barely controlled power hiding just beneath the surface. Ginny watch him continue this strange dance for what seemed like an eternity, until finally he brought it to and end, finishing with a reverent bow.

"So what do you think Ginny?" Lance asked before turning to face the door. Ginny, startled by this, joined him in the room and asked, "How did you know I was there?" "I was in a bit of a trance while I was doing that, and one of the things that trance does is enhance my senses. I heard you walking down the hall, and I heard you open the door. I could tell who you are by your gasps during some of the more difficult moves of my kata." Lance explained. Ginny blushed and mumbled, "Sorry, I couldn't help myself. What you were doing was amazing; I've never seen anything like it before. Was that some kind of dance?" Lance chuckled and replied, "No harm done. As for your question, like I said that was a kata. It's a series of martial arts exercises that I do every day to help me keep in practice."

At this point, Lance's stomach decided to make its presence known by growling loud enough for the both of them to hear. They both burst out laughing at this, and decided to go downstairs and get something to eat. Mrs. Weasley hadn't finished with breakfast yet, so they decided to wait at the table, where Ginny began telling Lance about Hogwarts to pass the time. Eventually they were joined by Ron, who was still only half awake. "Nice of you to wake me." He grumbled and then he added, "Hey Lance, was it just me or does our room smell slightly like burning cloth?"

"Awww, is little Ronniekins having hot flashes again?" Said Fred as he suddenly burst into the room along with George, the two had apparently just apparated there. The twins continued to bug Ron while Ginny explained that "hot flashes" where what her brothers used to call Ron's flashes of accidental magic, he used to set his sheets on fire when he had nightmares. After a few minutes, the twins stopped bugging Ron and Ginny was able to introduce them to Lance.

After a few more minutes of talking and jokes from the twins, Harry and Hermione walked into the room, and Ron asked them where they had been. "I had some trouble sleeping so I decided to go to the study and read. Hermione woke up early and found me there and joined me, and we both eventually dozed off. We only just woke up a few minutes ago" Harry explained as Mrs. Weasley walked in and summoned breakfast to the table. As everybody served themselves and began to dig in, Fawkes appeared above the middle of the table and dropped a bunch of envelopes on the table before disappearing. "Must be our O.W.L.s results." Said Hermione as she picked them up and passed them out. Harry opened his and began to read, before suddenly exclaiming "Bloody Hell! Take a look at this!"

End of Chapter 3.


	5. Authors note

**Authors Note: **Sorry it's been sooooooo long since my last chapter. To be honest, I had basically decided on giving up on this story after book 6 torpedoed most of my plans for it. And now with all seven books out, I really thought that I should abandon it. But recently, I started getting ideas for stories again, and I started conferring with my friends Megx and Lord Larry, and all three of us have decided to pool our efforts into an upcoming story. I have to keep mum about the details, but it does involve me making progress on this story. Look for a new chapter sometime in the next week or so. Until then, hang in there.


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